"We travelled by the bullet train --- the kind of one which is being built between Ahmedabad and Mumbai --- for about 700 kilometers which took us just two hours and the ticket cost was Rs 15000. There nothing is free and nothing is cheap," said Nitin Patel.

Recounting his maiden tour to Japan in the month of September 2018, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel on Friday evening said during his eight day tour he got an opportunity to travel by the bullet train, where he bought tickets worth Rs 15000 for a two-hour journey.

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“We travelled by the bullet train — the kind of one which is being built between Ahmedabad and Mumbai — for about 700 kilometers which took us just two hours and the ticket cost was Rs 15000. There nothing is free and nothing is cheap,” said Patel while speaking at an event titled “Japan Insights-ABC” held at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) where a 17-member delegation from Ishikawa prefecture was present. The delegation also had companies working on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project.

Patel however did not elaborate on the bullet train journey and restricted his talk to personal experiences of Japan. Consulate General of Japan in Mumbai, Ryoji Noda who was also present at the event said on the sidelines that the bullet train project can only begin from the Japanese side once the land acquisition is completed from the Indian side. While speaking at the event about the bullet train project, Noda reiterated, “The bullet train project that will connect two important cities Ahmedabad and Mumbai in just two hours is expected to be completed by 2022. We will start the project from our side, as soon as the land acquisition is completed.”

The Japanese official also said that PM Modi will be visiting Japan later this month. “This year it is Indian Prime Minister’s Narendra Modi’s chance to visit Japan this year. The Indian PM is expected to visit Japan by the end of this month,” Noda remarked.